New director for Stockport specialist lender

Specialist lender Together has appointed Richard Tugwell as group intermediary relationship director, as the Stockport based specialist lender continues to expand its distribution network.

Richard, whose career in financial services spans over 30 years, will oversee the company’s broker relationship teams, liaising with introducers across the UK.

With a strong background in the mortgage market, Richard brings a wealth of experience to the role. He joins from Capital Home Loans and previously worked for 30 years at Northern Rock/Virgin Money, where he was head of sales/director of intermediary relationships. He has also been director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders’ Association (IMLA).

Richard said:

“Together has a great reputation within the market, and exciting plans for expansion. I’m really looking forward to playing an integral role in the growth of the intermediary teams and the development of Together’s distribution channels.

“The specialist lending sector has grown significantly in recent years, largely in response to the mainstream lenders’ increasingly rigid approach, whereas Together’s common sense philosophy is the opposite of that. That’s so important for brokers, as they need to know where they can turn to with customers that may not fit the ‘typical’ mould for a whole variety of reasons. I’m looking forward to getting that message out more widely.”

Pete Ball, CEO of personal finance at Together commented:

“Richard has an outstanding network across the intermediary community, which, alongside his experience of working closely with the regulator and trade organisations, will be a major asset. We’re delighted to welcome him to the team.”

Marc Goldberg, Together’s commercial CEO added:

“Attracting Richard to Together is a testament to the high regard in which we’re held within the industry and his expertise will be invaluable as we continue with our exciting growth plans, across both the personal and commercial marketplaces.”

Together prides itself on its common sense approach to lending and has a current loan book of over £2 billion, with total new lending for 2016 at just under £1.1 billion.